


TK's no Good Very Bad Day

by asherly89



Series: Baby Boy [8]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Age Play, Child Death, Death, Fire, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Little!TK, M/M, Minor Character Death, Non-Sexual Age Play, daddy!carlos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asherly89/pseuds/asherly89
Summary: TK's day starts off nice, then just worse as the day progresses. He ends up age regressing at work. daddy!carlos and little!tk
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, TK Strand & Paul Strickland
Series: Baby Boy [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929256
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68





	TK's no Good Very Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> **So warning there are mentions of children dying. It's non-graphic still want to warn you before you read.**
> 
> Also thank you to Sy for this prompt. He has been waiting weeks for me to write this. I hope you enjoy it. :)

It was one of those days. The ones that start off good but turn bad, really fast. TK had slept at home, which was becoming more and more uncommon as he and Carlos started dating and playing more. Owen hadn’t questioned it but was happy to see his son. TK had cooked dinner for him and father, then they had watched some TV before both retiring to their rooms for the night.

TK had FaceTimed Carlos, who was on duty and they had a great conversation, with Carlos reading to him before wishing him a good night. The light regression helped him sleep peacefully and when his alarm went off he was refreshed and ready for the day.

He and his father had driven into work together since it was a 24 hour shift and they had just enough time to get a cup of coffee from the fancy machine at the station before the alarm went off. They were called to a car accident on the highway. Carlos and a few other officers are there holding back traffic so the fire trucks can get through.

TK waves at his boyfriend when he has a moment and Carlos nods at him. They try to keep it professional on calls. TK quickly gets busy helping to get the woman out of her mangled car. She’s being pinned down by the dashboard and bleeding. TK and Paul get her stable while Marjan uses the jaws of life to pull the car apart.

When the woman is free he and Paul drag her out so the paramedics can work on her. TK helps with clean up and when they’re getting back into the truck another call comes asking for assistants at a house fire.

The fire is raging when they get there. The other station already there is trying to get the flames to decrease, but can’t. A man outside is yelling out his family still inside and trying to go back in. Owen has Judd hold him back while they work on finding out if it’s safe to go in the house.

TK is on the hose with Marjan while Paul and Mateo get the okay to go inside with a couple of the others.

The fire dies down with the double spray of the hoses. Mateo comes out with a child, badly burned. The paramedics rush over but soon they’re shaking their heads. TK hears the father yell out and he turns to see him fall to knees taking Judd with him. Marjan comes out with a cat, alive.

TK can’t watch the rest. He moves back around the truck to take a moment. Owen comes up and places a hand on his shoulder, “It’ll be okay.”

TK’s body sags. He’ll never get used to seeing the dead bodies after a fire.

They get a breather for an hour before they’re called out again. TK lags behind, not wanting another repeat of their earlier call.

Thankfully there was only one person home, an older woman who’s kitchen caught on fire. They put it out quickly and make sure she’s going to be okay before they leave. TK does the clean up after not helping much during the fire.

They get called to another accident, this time by a school. A parent wasn’t paying attention and hit a kid with their car while trying to cut the pick up line. The kid’s trapped under the car, but talking which is good. They get him out and on a backboard. His leg is broken and he’ll probably be in the hospital for a few days recovering.

They make sure the kid’s okay to transport and once the ambulance is off they head back to the station. Where for a few hours it’s quiet. TK gets a chance to talk to Carlos for a few minutes since Carlos is off until the next night.

The next call is where it all goes wrong. It’s another fire. A big one like earlier that day. A mother is outside yelling for her husband and kids. The husband comes out coughing but holding a little boy.

“Our daughter, she-she’s still inside,” the man coughs out.

“Where was she last seen?” TK asks.

“H-her room, upstairs,” the man says. The paramedics rush over to give him oxygen.

TK grabs his mask and puts it on over his face. They’re not going to lose another kid today. The one from this morning was hard enough. He rushes into the house, his dad yelling after him but he doesn’t stop. He locates the stairs and runs up them.

There’s a closed door at the end of the hall and he rushes to it. He touches the door to make sure there’s no fire behind. He finds it cool and he tries the door knob. It’s locked.

He pounds on the door, “Austin FD, can you open up?”

There’s no answer so he does it again but again no one answers. He calls over the radio he’s going to break the door down for a possible unconscious person. He uses his shoulder to break down the door and carefully looks inside for the little girl.

“What’s the girl’s name?” TK asks over the radio.

“Tayla,” comes Owen’s response.

“Tayla? Are you in here? I’m a firefighter,” TK yells, “Tayla?”

He looks under the bed and around the toys seeing if maybe the little girl was hiding.

“TK what’s your ETA? This fire isn’t slowing,” Owen says over the radio.

“I can’t find her,” TK says, “I’ve checked under the bed and around the toys. I’m going to check the closet next.”

“You have two minutes then I’m pulling you,” Owen says.

TK sighs, “Thanks, cap.”

He moves to the closet and opens the door slowly but no one is inside. TK sighs in frustration. He leaves the room and carefully moves through the upstairs. He can see the smoke filling up the hall, “Tayla? Tayla, if you can hear me yell!”

There’s no answer.

He calls for her again but Owen’s also yelling through the radio to get out. TK knows the little girl is somewhere but his vision is getting cloudy with smoke and the heat from the fire is close and he can’t think. He can’t find Tayla.

“TK get out...now!” Owen’s yelling.

TK’s eyes cloud with tears and he makes the decision to leave. He can’t find her. He makes his way quickly out the door and the rest of the team and the others on scene blast the flames.

“I...I’m sorry,” TK says when he gets outside and his mask is off, “I looked, but I couldn’t find her.”

“You did good, kid,” Judd says patting him on the back, “It happens.”

TK’s brain starts to shut down after that. He sits on the back of the rig as the rest of the crew works on putting the fire out. He watches the family hug each other and cry. He can’t help, but cry himself. Sometimes he hates this job.

* * *

They get to the station after the call and TK quickly makes his way out of the truck and into the shower. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now. He picks his shower caddy up from his locker and undresses, leaving his clothes laying on the floor. He doesn’t care if anyone gets mad at him, he just wants to get clean.

He washes slowly making sure every inch of skin is clean. He washes his hair and after he just lets the water wash over him. Tears spring up in his eyes again and he lets them fall. They wash away with the water down the drain.

“Yo, TK,” he hears Paul’s voice, “You okay?”

TK sniffs, “Y-yeah, just wanted a shower.”

“You left your clothes all over the floor,” Paul replies, “I almost tripped over your boots.”

TK rolls his eyes and replies with a little bit of a bratty tone, “I’ll pick them up when I’m done.”

“Hey,” Paul’s voice is right outside his shower and he jumps, “I know the call was hard, but that doesn’t mean you get to just...do whatever you want.”

“I said I would pick them when I’m done!” TK yells back.

“There’s no reason to yell,” Paul replies, “Just be considerate of others.”

TK sighs, “Whatever.”

He turns the water off from his shower and turns to get his towel. He can make out the outline of Paul’s body through the curtain, “Can you back off?”

Paul huffs but leaves TK alone. TK waits until he hears Paul start his own shower before grabbing his towel from the hook and drying himself. He peeks out to make sure Paul is in his shower before he comes out his own. He hastily grabs his dirty uniform off the floor and exits the bathroom quickly.

He grabs his sweats and his shirt so he can lay down. It’s Mateo’s turn to cook so he doesn’t have to worry about socializing or cooking for the team. He just wants to be alone. He grabs his phone from his clothes on his way to the bunk room and when he makes it to his bed he flops onto it. He sighs. It’s been a terrible day. From the morning with the fire with the little boy to the now him not finding the little girl, Tayla, he doesn’t know if he’ll make it through his whole shift. It’s too much today.

He calls Carlos, hoping he’ll be able to help.

“Hey, baby,” Carlos answers.

TK can hear the smile in his voice, “H-hi.”

“What’s up?”

TK shrugs then remembers Carlos can’t see him, “It’s been a bad day.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

TK sniffs, “I-it was a bad call. I couldn’t find a little girl in a fire and...and I had to go or else I wouldn’t have been alive.”

He hears Carlos sigh, “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

TK’s breath stutters before a sob comes out, “C-can you come to the station? I need you.”

“I can be there in half an hour,” Carlos replies, “I’m across town right now.”

“P-please come,” TK says, “I need you. Don’t want to be here any-anymore.”

“Shh, baby, I’m on my way. Is there someone there with you?”

TK shakes his head.

“TK, I need you to talk, baby,” Carlos says when doesn’t hear TK answer.

“N-no,” TK replies, “P-papi, I want you.”

TK doesn’t know when he slipped into little headspace, but he doesn’t care. He just wants his papi.

“I’m on my way, baby,” Carlos says, “Do you want me to stay on the line? I can talk to you while you wait.”

“Papi,” TK whines, “Please...”

“Shh, I know, little one, I know. I’m in the car. I’m heading to you. Just take a deep breath for me, okay? Can you do that?”

TK tries to do what Papi asked but on the inhale he’s too worked up and his breathing is rigged. He keeps the phone to his ear and his thumb comes up to his mouth. It soothes him some, but not enough. Tears are running down his face. He can hear Papi on the phone and he makes noises here and there to let Papi know he’s listening. He’s calming down just from the soothing voice of Papi. 

Then Papi cuts off. He looks at his phone and sees the screen is black and a fresh set of tears and sobs go through his body. His phone died. He can’t see through his tears if a charger is close by. The tears fall and his body shakes with the sobs.

He hears footsteps and wipes at his eyes, “Papi?”

“No, it’s Paul,” Paul’s gentle voice says, “Carlos called me, said your phone died.”

TK sniffs, “I want papi.”

Paul sits across from him, “He said he’s still 10 minutes away. But he sent me in here to stay with you.”

TK curls up on his side to face Paul. His thumb stays in his mouth and his other hand moves out to pull at Paul. Paul goes with the move and sits on the floor.

“What do you need from me?” Paul asks.

TK talks around his thumb, “Story?”

“You want me to tell you a story?” Paul asks.

TK nods.

“Alright well, there was this princess and she hated being a princess. She wanted to be a knight, like the boys, but her parents wouldn’t let her. They always told her, she had to do princess things,” Paul says. He pauses to make sure TK is listening.

TK’s attention is on him. His eyes still a little wet from tears, and his face red, but he’s listening.

“So one day she dresses up like a knight and it just feels right. The dresses she wore never felt right, but the armor does. But her mother catches her and tells her to take it off because princesses do not wear armor, they wear dresses,” Paul says, “And the princess was so mad she tried to run away.”

TK gasps. He’s so into the story that he doesn’t hear someone else come in, but when the bed dips he turns and sees Papi.

“Papi!” TK cries and throws his arms around the man. He scrabbles into his lap and starts crying all over again.

“Hey,” Papi says. His one hand moving up to pet at TK’s hair, “Hey, I’ve got you. Papi’s got you.”

TK clings to the man. He feels Papi shift and he holds on tighter, “No, don’t leave me.”

“I’m not,” Papi’s voice comes, “I’m just moving so we can be comfortable.”

TK buries his face in the side of his papi’s neck and his hand comes to hold onto the front of his shirt. Papi gently rocks and hums softly.

The alarm goes off and there’s heavy footsteps outside the bunk room. TK moves his head from his spot and watches as everyone runs off.

“I need to-”

“No,” Papi cuts him off, “No, you’re done for tonight. Your shift is over.”

“But-”

“You’re done. I already told your dad you were having a bad night and he agreed to let you have a half shift,” Papi tells him, “You’re done until your next shift.”

TK deflates from the words. He lays his head back to where it was resting on his papi’s shoulder and lets the feeling of being surrounded carry him away. Papi pets down his back and it helps him to quiet down his brain. He’s floaty and he doesn’t want the feeling to change.

“Baby,” Papi whispers, “do you want to go home? We’ll have a warm bath and I’ll make you dinner. We can do whatever you want.”

TK nods.

“Can you stand for me?”

TK reluctantly moves from his spot in his papi’s lap and stands by the side of the bed. Papi stands as well and puts an arm around him to support him. TK leans into his side as they walk slowly through the station. It’s quiet without everyone there.

Once in the car TK doesn’t want to let go of Papi’s hand so the hand not on the steering wheel stays in his. TK keeps his head turned to look at his papi. He can’t help but smile at the man.

“What?” Papi asks

“I love you,” TK says.

“I love you too,” Papi replies.

“Even when I don’t finish my vegetables?”

“Even then.”

“Or when I splash you when I’m in the bath?”

“I still love you then.”

“Or when I’m bad?”

Papi’s hand squeezes his, “Even when you’re bad, I still love you. I’m going to never stop loving you.”

* * *

Back at Carlo’s place, Carlos helps TK out of the car. They make their way into the apartment quietly and Carlos takes TK into the bathroom. He starts the water and while he waits for it to get warm, he helps TK out of his clothes. TK helps some, but Carlos is doing most of the work.

Once the water is warm enough and the bath is filled Carlos helps TK into the bath. He watches as TK plays with his bath toys and he smiles to himself. He can’t get over the stress he felt when TK’s phone stopped working. He hates that TK had to age down after a hard call. But he’s thankful for Paul. Without him, TK would’ve been in a terrible state by the time Carlos had gotten to him.

“I’m going to start dinner, what would you like?” Carlos asks.

TK looks up at him, “Mac ‘n’ cheese?”

“Sounds good to me,” Carlos answers, “I’ll put the water on to boil.”

He makes his way into the kitchen and his phone pings with a message. He sees it’s Paul checking in and he sends him a quick message that they’re home and TK should be fine.

Once dinner is ready, Carlos goes to get TK out of his bath. TK’s already watching the water drain and his toys are on the bathmat next to the tub.

“Sweetheart, what have I told you about throwing your toys on the floor?” Carlos asks him.

TK looks up at him with big eyes, “I-I’m sorry, papi.”

Carlos just shakes his head but picks up the toys and throws them in the sink to dealt with later. He helps TK dry off and leads him into the bedroom to grab some clean clothes. TK picks out his dinosaur onesies and puts it on. Carlos helps him button it up and when he reaches the top button he kisses TK’s nose, making the man giggle.

After dinner, TK grabs his tiger squishmallow and his blanket and takes up his spot on the couch. Carlos quickly rinses the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher and drying his hands.

“Pick out a movie, while I go get changed,” Carlos tells TK.

When Carlos comes back he sees TK has _How to Train Your Dragon_ ready to play. They’ve watched it a half dozen times, but it’s TK’s favorite right now and he can’t deny his boy a thing.

He barely sits down before TK comes to cuddle to him. He kisses the top of TK’s head as the movie starts and he feels TK cuddle in closer.

TK’s body sags halfway through the movie and Carlos sees he’s fallen asleep. He lets the movie play until the end before turning the TV off and he gently picks up TK to take him to bed.

TK whines from being moved but settles against him as they walk down the hall to the bedroom. He places TK gently on the bed, making sure his blanket and stuffie is close by before joining him.

TK cuddles into his arms once they’re settled.

“Love you,” TK mumbles in his sleep.

Carlos kisses his head, “Love you, baby boy.”


End file.
